Physical assaults on Toronto shelter staff up more than 400 per cent as 'critical incidents' rise

The number of violent assaults against Toronto shelter staff and users has increased dramatically over the past decade, a new report finds, calling for more action to address the rising number of critical incidents in the system.

Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that the rate of those incidents has been steadily climbing since 2011 – spiking in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic – with overcrowding frequently flagged as an indicator.

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“What people need is a roof over their head that's safe, and also to have their other needs met,” Coun. Alejandra Bravo said Tuesday. “Everybody has a right to be inside. Everybody has a right to have their needs met. And we have to figure out a way to do it.”

The data indicate that physical assaults on Toronto shelter staff rose 424 per cent between 2011 and 2021, leading more than a third of workers to report feeling unsafe in the workplace.

Women reported feeling significantly less safe at work than men, and 43 per cent of Black and Indigenous shelter staff said they experienced daily verbal abuse involving racism.

The majority of shelter staff also reported direct exposure to constant screaming, verbal abuse or threats to physical safety on at least a weekly basis.

“I think a lot of the behaviors that are presenting in the shelter system can sometimes be very much misidentified, and seen as being threatening,” community worker Diana Chan McNally said Tuesday.

“I've been doing this work a long time as a frontline worker, and if someone is screaming, for example, that doesn't necessarily mean that someone is a threat.”

The CAMH research also indicated that assaults on shelter users increased 208 per cent between 2011 and 2021, and that feeling unsafe within the shelter prompted some users to sleep outdoors with less access to supports.

City staff can impose “service restrictions” on users – temporarily denying individuals access to the system -- as a means of responding to violence. The report however stresses that that can leave clients without needed supports and make them more vulnerable to other harms. Nearly half of users who were denied access to a shelter as a result of their behaviour immediately became unsheltered.

The researchers suggest 22 recommendations to improve safety in Toronto’s shelter system, including implementing more intensive, team-based mental health supports, prioritizing users with the highest rates of critical incidents for supportive housing, and developing a specialized program to support people with histories of violence.

Approximately 9,000 people use a shelter in Toronto on any given night.